Tunnel of Villargordo del Cabriel

The tunnel of Villargordo del Cabriel is part of the section Villargordo del Cabriel – Venta del Moro included in the New Railway Link to Eastern Spain (High Speed Line Madrid-Castilla/La Mancha-Comunidad Valenciana-Región de Murcia). The projected section runs entirely in the province of Valencia, through the municipalities of Villargordo del Cabriel and Venta del Moro.

The tunnel has been designed for a maximum speed of 350 km/h and a minimum of 200 km/h. The tunnel has a total length of 3,340 meters.

The designed section is circular, with an inner radius of 6.04 m, which provides a section free of 80 square meters. Sidewalks have been arranged on both sides of the tunnel with a width of 1.62 meters.

The tunnel runs through a ground which belongs to two main formations: Keuper (sandstone, gypsum and marls) and tertiary deposits (limestone, clays…).

According to the nature of the ground to dig, some areas of greater complexity were identified, and the construction problems were solved by adopting appropriate corrective measures in project. These bad conditions detected mainly correspond to the risk of karstic cavities in the Keuper, water springs, the fall of blocks in the limestones…